Becky Chambers

[paulkincaid]

Twice this morning I have come across references to my views on Becky Chambers, and particularly to The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet. I should note that I make no secret of the fact that I do not like this novel, though I do sometimes get the sense that to not like it is somehow a mark of shame. The first reference was in the latest Critical Friends podcast from Strange Horizons (http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/podcasts/critical-friends-episode-17-on-imagining-hopefully/), where Paul March-Russell says: 'I had conversations with Maureen Speller and Paul Kincaid who were like, “Why, what? How can you even like this book?”' and Paul was puzzled because he found Chambers' work hopeful. Then some odd reference led me to this post, https://cloggie.org/books2/2025/05/the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet-becky-chambers/, where the author says: 'I can understand then why somebody like British science fiction critic Paul Kincaid, not a reactionary fellow by any means, loathes it', even though he disagrees with me. It is good to know I am not considered reactionary, even if not liking her work is somehow reactionary, where my whole problem with it is that it is not progressive enough. The sort of society she is painting is, to my mind, far from hopeful, because it faces no obstacles, overcomes no challenges. It is not just that I don't believe a word of what she writes, it is that if this really were the society, the first genuine problem it encountered would make the whole thing fall apart. Because the whole thing is predicated on everyone being unutterably nice, everybody can afford to be nice to everyone else because they are not putting anything on the line to get to that point. The contrast I invoke is to James White's Hospital Station series. White was a Catholic author in Northern Ireland who was good friends with a Protestant author in Northern Ireland (Bob Shaw) at a time when such cross-community contacts could be dangerous. And in the Hospital Station where there are all sorts of alien races, the station provides furniture specially suited to each very different body type. But the thing is that people will use furniture not designed for them simply to be able to chat with friends from a different species. Building a community out of difference is not easy, not straightforward, it takes some measure of discomfort on all sides. But there is never a sense of discomfort anywhere in Chambers. That is not a progressive view to my mind. (And yes, to go back to Paul March-Russell's quote, I know that Maureen agreed with me absolutely on this.)